Ottawa home resales up 2% in October

Ottawa home resales inched up in October as the local market continued a strong second half of 2013, the Ottawa Real Estate Board announced Tuesday.

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Members of the board sold 1,090 residential properties last month, the organization said. That’s a two-per cent increase over the 1,069 sold in October 2012 and around the five-year average of 1,091.

“This is a welcome change from the first half of 2013, where we saw continuous decreases, albeit small ones, in the number of units sold,” said Ansel Clarke, the past president of the OREB, in a statement.

Prices averaged $360,085 for the month, a 4.1-per cent increase from $345,756 a year earlier.

“The Ottawa market is proving, once again, to be a steady, balanced market,” said Mr. Clarke.

The strong housing resale activity in the second half of the year still hasn’t been enough to overcome a slow start, however.

OREB members sold 12,378 as of the end of October. That’s down 3.2 per cent from the 12,783 units sold during the first ten months of last year.